To Me, Fair Friend, You Never Can Be Old

[Joshua Smith]

Actually I meant in reference to 'safe' - there is nothing necessarily threatening about a (tidal) surge

Wow! Then we have drastically different concepts of tidal surges.  A storm tide, storm flood, tidal surge and storm surge are all names for very similar things, and have been used interchangeably even though there are slight technical variances.  I had presumed that even people who do not sail understood the catastrophic capabilities of a tidal surge.  The National Hurricane Center and NOAA in an introduction to their overview of storm surges state the following: "Along the coast, storm surge is often the greatest threat to life and property from a hurricane. In the past, large death tolls have resulted from the rise of the ocean associated with many of the major hurricanes that have made landfall. Hurricane Katrina (2005) is a prime example of the damage and devastation that can be caused by surge. At least 1500 persons lost their lives during Katrina and many of those deaths occurred directly, or indirectly, as a result of storm surge".  I have evidentially overestimated the prevalence of this knowledge.  You are not the first to raise concerns over the usage of "surging tides", but you are the first to tell me the reason behind your concern.  The others probably have similar reasons.  Thank you for your response, it has been immensely beneficial.